A biopic, from impoverished Brooklyn roots, life-threatening rheumatic fever, to a meteoric rise to stardom, of the life and times of crooner Bobby Darin. Spacey, if totally miscast, gives an impassioned performance in this run of the mill story which he also directs.
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CADILLAC RECORDS (2009)

Certification15 Our Rating

This dramatic history of Chicago's Chess Records has a superb soundtrack(though it consists almost entirely of covers) and its insights into the relationship between white money making businessmen and poor black talent back in the stifling '50s more than makes up for its overwrought melodrama, historic inaccuracies and poor script.
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COAL MINER'S DAUGHTER (1980)

Certification15 Our Rating

Superb biopic of legendary country singer Loretta Lynn. Sissy Spacek, who incidentally has a belting voice, deservedly won the Best Actress Oscar for her moving portrayal of the naive Kentucky farm girl who became a singing superstar against all the odds, while Tommy Lee Jones is dynamite as her husband Doolittle. Beverly D'Angelo is also a revelation as Loretta's close friend, the late great Patsy Cline. An inspirational rags-to-riches story, only to be avoided if you have a strong aversion to
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DANCING IN THE STREET: CROSSROADS (1995)

CertificationE Our Rating

Charting a golden era of British music. American blues found its first white audience, in British ports! Ergo The Animals, Stones, Yardbirds, Beatles and many others, the import of a young Hendrix, the development of R&B and its Heavy Metal progeny. Much twanging of guitars and blowing of blues harps.
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LA VIE EN ROSE (2007)

Certification12 Our Rating

A stunning dramatisation of the mesmerising life and ultimately tragic times of Edith Piaf, the ‘little sparrow'. The singer's life is beautifully evoked, as is the time, while Marion Cotillard in the central role is perfection. A moving and marvellous delight.....'Je ne regrette rien'.
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MUSCLE SHOALS (2013)

CertificationE Our Rating

Documentary about recording studios in Muscle Shoals on the Tennessee River. Lots of story beyond the recording sessions and loads and loads of great music too.

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RAY (2004)

Certification15 Our Rating

A mesmerising dramatisation of one of the kings, Ray Charles. Unsurprisingly the soundtrack is pure bliss, but it is Jamie Foxx in the title role that pulls everything together, an hypnotic performance of a music legend, through all his highs and lows, and one of those increasingly rare examples of a leading actor Oscar that actually makes sense.
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SERGE GAINSBOURG: D'AUTRES NOUVELLES DES ETOILES DISC 1 (2007)

Certification15 Our Rating

Musician, songwriter, performer, painter, writer, director, brilliant tunesmith and lyrical genius, he had a gift for wielding words with bitter humour. Long disparaged and admired, but constantly in the forefront of the music scene, his work was inspired by a wild, romantic creativity. All the songs are full versions presented chronologically by decade.
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WALK HARD: THE DEWEY COX STORY (2007)

Certification15 Our Rating

The legend that is Dewey Cox, a rock and roll god whose name is uttered in the same breath as Buddy Holly and Johnny Cash, a man who embraced hedonism more than most of his peers, but at heart was simple and kind. Idolised for his music and nearly destroyed by the many temptations such adulation brought, this is the myth, a subtle, beautifully performed, lushly visualised, cleverly scripted lampoon of every poe-faced, rose-tinted Oscar hungry biopic that's graced our screens over the last couple
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WALK THE LINE (2005)

Certification15 Our Rating

A brief skim over Johnny Cash's childhood in rural Arkansas and then we leap into his early career, powering along through the highs and lows until we reach 1968, a good time for the legendary balladeer and a perfect place to end a biog on a high note. Walk The Line is a film made by the two central performances of Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon. The live scenes are hypnotic and the chemistry between the two never less than utterly convincing. Like 'Ray' this is a film that smoothes over
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